The Catalytic Activity and Micro‐Mechanisms of Reducible Metal Oxide Nanozymes in Relation to Their Antibacterial Efficacy

Precision-driven nanomaterial approaches continue to show enormous promise and are forecast to transform contemporary medicine. The core strength lies in the ability to engineer materials at the nanoscale to achieve unique physicochemical properties. A theory that is paramount to its unlimited future promise is in creating “designer” or “intelligent” nanomaterials precisely crafted to enable specific biological interactions for applications in health, disease, and infection. Fuelled by their ease of synthesis, catalytic nature, complex surface character, and tunability, the development of next-generation reducible metal oxide nanozymes (rNZs) that mimic the complex perceptive and adaptive capabilities of natural enzymes is a topic of remarkable curiosity. In pursuit of decoding rNZ catalytic mechanisms, this review spotlights the critical contribution of atomistic features. The promise of rNZs to circumvent the therapeutic insufficiencies surrounding bacterial antimicrobial resistance is confirmed to be a viable route forward, and the first evidence of the use of ionizing radiation to augment activity is presented as a novel antibacterial strategy. In some respects, the micromechanisms remain cryptic and elusive. The data reveal the critical contribution of crystal facets and oxygen vacancies within an orchestrated, heterogeneous, tunable, but strikingly complex system. Deciphering these sophisticated behaviors is arguably the next frontier in the field.